The Pan-American Intercollegiate
Championships are traditionally held somewhere warm on December 27-30.
At times, college students can sunbathe or even swim in the ocean. Although
this year's host city Milwaukee, Wisconsin cannot promise any ocean
water or particularly warm sun light (after all, we are in Midwest),
there are plenty of fun activities that the players can look forward
to. Skiing, ice skating, building a snowman and entering a snowball
fight are just a few of the exciting options! We just had 16 inches
of snow in Wisconsin, so chances are the weather will be good during the
tournament :)

The Crowne Plaza hotel offers
the most comfortable rooms, top level food choices, and a terrific bar
among other things. Not that most college students drink, but perhaps
their coaches might want to relax during the games. Twenty seven teams
have already entered (see the list below), with over 20 titled players
including ten Grandmasters! The rating favorites include three schools
from Texas (University of Texas, Brownsville; University of Texas, Dallas,
Texas Tech University) and the Univeristy of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). All
four teams have an average rating over 2500. Other hopefuls are Standford
(2211 average), Miami Dade College (2100 average) and University of
Toronto (2100 average). Shall we have problems with power, the teams
will be forced to compete outside. In this case, Toronto would become
a clear favorite!

Many side events are scheduled
to be held during the tournament. Blitz Championship is set for
the evening of Tuesday, December 28th. With $1,500 in prizes,
many players are expected to play. The Pan American Open section ($2,900
in prizes) already has almost fifty participants signed up, including
GM Alex Yermolinksy of South Dakota and several strong masters. Two
scholastic sections are also offered.